Life May Be Hard, But Love Is Harder
by General of the BVB Army
Summary: Annabeth is a foster child, whereas Percy is a popular, rich kid. They bump into each other in the halls of Goode High by pure chance. They will turn each other's lives around in a matter of weeks.
1. Welcome To Goode High!

My name is Annabeth Chase. I'm seventeen years old, and I've been to six foster homes in the last nine years. Some went great; some not so much. My seventh foster family seemed nice enough, but they didn't talk to me much. That's okay though; I'm used to it.

It was my first day at Goode High School, home of the Olympians, in Manhatten. I looked up at the building, feeling intimidated. I had done it six times, but I had a feeling about that one. I wasn't sure whether it was good or bad though. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and walked through the double doors. The pincipal's office was down the hall.

I waded through the sea of students, and finally reached the door. I walked in and saw a pudgy man, sitting there. He had a red nose, blood-shot eyes, and dark, curly. His eyes were a strange shade of purple, like the color of grapes. The tag on his desk said Mr. D.

"Hello, how may I help you?" You would think that this would be a friendly greeting, but he practically sneered it.

"Yes, my name is Annabeth Chase. I'm new here, and I need to pick up my schedule." I said, a lot braver than I felt, looking around the office. It was decorated with a lot of grape and leopard print memorbelia.

"Yes, yes. Brunner! I need Annabeth Chase's schedule!" He yelled to someone in a back room.

"Yes, yes, I'm getting it." A man with a scraggly beard, thinning, brown hair, a tweed jacket that smelled of coffee, in a wheelchair came out of the room, holding a piece of paper.

"Here you go, Miss Chase. And, call me Chiron. Welcome to Goode High." He smiled; pleasantly; unlike Mr. D.

"Thanks," I walked out of the room quickly. As soon as I walked two feet out the door, I collided with someone.

The contents of my bag spilled out, scattering on the floor. Both of us got down quickly to pick them up.

"I am _so_ sorry! Are you okay?" I looked up to the speaker. He had messy, raven black hair, sea-green eyes, and wearing a sports jacket with the letters GH on it.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm such a klutz. It's my fault." By then, we had it all picked up, and back in my bag. We stood up quickly.

"No, it's my fault. I'm Percy Jackson. And, you must be Annabeth." He stuck out his hand, so I shook it.

"Yeah, nice to meet you. How did you-"

"News spreads fast around here. So, what's your first class?" He asked, curiously. I looked at my schedule.

English- Mr. Blofis

Math- Ms. Dodds

Gym- Coach Jameson

Lunch

Free Period

Science- Mr. Langdon

History- Mr. Brunner

"English with Mr. Blofis." He looked at my schedule.

"Cool, we have all of the same classes together! Warning: Ms. Dodds is the strictest teacher ever, and, if you aren't careful, she will probably make you cry."

"Come on, she can't be that bad." I exclaimed as he started walking forward.

"Oh, but she is. Horrible; on the first day, she made us do a five page essay on the Pathagorean Theorem. I still have nightmares about it." He shivered, causing me to laugh.

He pushed open a door on his left, and gestured for me to go in first. I did, and saw that the room was half-empty. Percy sat down in the middle of the classroom, so I sat down beside him.

"So, where did you move here from?" He inquired.

"San Fransisco. I miss it so much." I leaned back in my chair.

"San Fransisco? That's a long way away. Why did you move?" I groaned inwardly.

"It's a long story."

"Well, we've got about fifteen minutes before class starts." He stated, looking at the clock.

"Well, I'm a foster kid. I've been to seven foster homes in the last nine years. Life sucks that way." I leaned my head back, closing my eyes.

"I'm sorry, that must be horrible. Blame this on my ADHD, but that story didn't seem too long." He stated matter-of-factly. I opened my eyes, and faced him.

"I decided to spare you the headache, and give you the short version. So, I told you about my home life, so tell me about your's." He looked nervous, and slightly guilty.

"Well, it's normal. I have a dad, two half-brothers. My parents are divorced, and Mr. Blofis is my step-dad." I looked at him, shocked.

"Wow. Does he give you special treatment in class?" I asked with a laugh.

"No, but I wish he did. I have dyslexia, too, so English sucks."

"That's weird, because I have ADHD and dyslexia, too. I make straight A's though."

"You lucky duck." Just then, a bunch of boys wearing the same jacket as Percy walked into the classroom, elbowing and mock-punching each other. They came and formed a circle around us.

"Hey, Perce! Who's this lovely, young lady?" A boy with olive-toned skin, and shaggy black hair asked.

"Guys, this is Annabeth. Annabeth, this is Beckendorf, my cousin, Nico, Jason, Leo, Chris, Travis, Connor, and Grover. They're all on the team, except for Grover, who's waterboy. No offence, Grover." He added on as an after-thought.

"No problem. I'm living the dream!" This caused a laugh from the rest of the guys.

"Okay, class, settle down. We shall be reading _Romeo and Juliet_. And, then, we will be putting on the play. You all will be required to try out, which we will do in today's class." Mr. Blofis said, walking in the room.

_Lunch_

Percy and I stood in the lunch line, and, while all I had was a muffin and yogurt, Percy was piling his tray high. He had a bag of chips, a hamburger, two hot dogs, a couple of pieces of pizza, among other things.

"Are you seriously going to eat all that?" I asked, pointing to his food.

"Of course. I wouldn't get all of it if I wasn't!" He said in a 'duh' tone. We payed for our food, then walked to a table with all of the guys from earlier, and a couple of girls. I sat down in-between Percy and a girl who had jet black, spiky hair, blue eyes, was wearing skull earrings, and a Green Day concert T-shirt.

Percy started devouring all of his food, as did the other guys. The girl turned to me.

"Hi, I'm Thalia. You must be Annabeth. I saw you in Math and English. Isn't she horrible?" I nodded.

"Yeah. Hey, do all of the guys eat like this?" I whispered, not wanting any of them to hear.

"Oh yeah. You should see them after a game. Actually, no, you shouldn't. You'd probably end up being eaten." We laughed, causing Percy to turn toward us, his mouth stuffed with hamburger.

"What?" He asked, after swallowing. We just laughed some more.

"Seriously, what's so funny?"

"It's nothing." Our laughs had died down.

"This is the start of a beautiful friendship." Thalia said, putting her arm around my shoulders.

_Nex Day_

"Hello, class. I have posted the main cast on the door, so go ahead and take a look." We all piled toward the door.

_Prince Escalus- Connor Stoll_

_Montague and Lady Montague- Nico di Angelo and Thalia Grace_

_Capulet and Lady Capulet- Travis Stoll and Kaite Gardner_

_Romeo- Percy Jackson_

_Juliet- Annabeth Chase_

_Mercutio- Charles Beckendorf_

_Benvolio- Grover Underwood_

_Tybalt- Jason Grace_

_Friar Lawerence- Chris Rodrigez_

_Nurse- Silena Beauregaurd_

_Paris- Will Solace_

_Chorus- Juniper Hedge_

When I saw what part I had, I paled. Juliet. Don't she and Romeo have to kiss? A lot? And, Romeo was Percy? That could not have ended well.

"Hey, Annabeth, looks like we're the leads." Percy said, coming up behind me. Nico was making gagging sounds due to the fact that Thalia was supposed to be his 'wife'. She, Percy, and Nico are cousins.

"Yeah, looks like we are."


	2. Oh, Thalia

**A/N: ATTENTION ALL READERS! You know in the last chapter where I said that Mr. Brunner taught History? IGNORE THAT COMPLETELY! I have a much better alternative, and you will find out who it is in this chapter, now I'm going to shut up so you can enjoy the chapter.**

"Hey, Annabeth, wait up!" Thalia yelled, running up to me in the hallway as the final bell rang.

"Hey, Thalia, what's up?" I asked, shouldering my bag. She finally caught up to me, not even breathless.

"Not much. I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me to this really cool coffee shop. It's just around the corner and I can get us a discount." I laughed a little at the mischievous look on her face.

We pushed through the double doors at the front of the school, and stepped into the warm late August sun.

"Sure, but may I ask how you intend to get us a discount?" Over the past couple of days, me, Thalia, and the rest of the guys had gotten to be great friends.

"My Aunt Hestia owns the place, and I just happen to be her favorite niece." She stated, smirking triumphantly.

"Sure, I'm up for it. When's our next rehearsal?" I asked as we walked through the parking lot to her red convertible, unlocking it, and getting in.

"Tomorrow. What was the assignment Miss Athena gave us? I forgot." I laughed. Thalia always 'forgot' our assignments.

"We have to read chapters three and four in our history books on the Civil War, and then answer whatever we didn't get done on the worksheet she gave us." I happened to have finished all of my homework, so I didn't have anything to do that night.

"That's just wonderful. Give a dyslexic kid with ADHD oodles of homework that requires reading." She said sarcastically.

"I have ADHD and dyslexia, and I finished all of my homework." We took off speeding out of the parking lot blasting Green Day from the radio, and me screaming in terror at Thalia's insane driving.

"Thalia, shouldn't you slow down a little bit?" I yelled, my hair whipping around my face. I couldn't even see our surroundings. It was just a big blur.

"No way! I drive like this all the time." She said like it was no big deal. She slammed her brakes in front of this coffee shop with a huge picturesque hearth in front of it. In the fire it said 'Hestia's Hot Coffee'. Not the most original name, but it looked pleasant and inviting.

"It's really good, but it isn't all hot coffee. It has some ice coffee and then it has various assorted pastries. Very, very good. I'll bet if it's a good day, I can get it for free." She got out, me following, worrying about my wallet.

"What if she doesn't let me get my stuff for free?" I wondered aloud as we walked into the store. It was cool, and it smelled very strongly of coffee, and, as Thalia said, pastries, which made sense.

"Then, I pay for whatever you get, and you help me with whatever homework I have. And, if your's _is_ free, then you still help me with whatever homework I have." She said with humor, directing me to a table. She knew about my general no money predicament.

"No, I couldn't let you-" She shoved a salt shaker filled with sugar in my face.

"Shut up. You're not paying." She said determinedly.

"But-"

"I've known you for a couple of days, and I know for a fact that you are one of the most stubborn people in the world, but I am ten times more stubborn than you are, so there's no logic in arguing. Now, what are you not going to do?" She asked, slowly removing the salt- I guess sugar shaker from my face.

"Argue, and pay." I sighed, knowing that it was a lost cause.

"Good girl. Yo, Apollo, get your butt over here, and take our orders!" A blonde-haired, green eyed guy walked over to us with one of those waiter's pads in his hand, and a pen in the other.

"Would it kill you to say please?" He asked when he got over to us.

"Yes, now I want a caramel ice coffee, and a custard filled doughnut. Annabeth?" She asked in a mock sweetness kind of way.

"Same." I stated, watching as he wrote it down, mock-glaring at Thalia. He walked away, shaking his head.

"That's Apollo, my half-brother. He has a twin sister named Artemis. She started an organization called the Hunters of Artemis. It's an organization that helps teenage girls who are in horrible condition. Meaning depressed, heart-broken, and all that crap. She actually helped me once." She trailed off, chewing on her painted black pointer fingernail.

"That's cool." I didn't say anything else, mostly because I didn't have anything else to say.

"Here you go. Tips are appreciated." Apollo said, bringing out our various food and beverages.

"Yeah, well, you're not getting any." Thalia said, patting Apollo on the shoulder. He walked away with a scowl on his face.

"Well, that was an interesting exchange. How-" But, I was then again interrupted by a very beautiful woman holding a bunch of cards.

"Hi, Thalia, who's your friend?" She asked in a musical voice.

"A'rodite, 'his is Anna'eth." Thalia said through a mouthful of doughnut. She nodded with a grimace on her face, probably due to Thalia's monstrous eating.

"Hi, Annabeth, I'm Aphrodite. Here's my card. I'm the head of a matchmaking and beauty salon." She said, handing me the card. _Who says beauty parlor anymore?_

"Thanks, but I'll be okay." I replied, sipping my coffee. She frowned and walked away.

"Hey, do you know about any job openings around here?" I asked Thalia, biting my doughnut, and then appreciating the custardy goodness on the inside. She swallowed her coffee, and thought for a minute before it looked like a light bulb went off in her head.

"Yo, Hestia!" She yelled, waving to an older woman who was talking to another customer. She said bye to the customer and walked over to us.

"Hey, Thals, good to see you." She said when she reached us.

"Do you have any job openings?" She asked, causing Hestia to snort.

"A job? _You_ want a _job_?" She laughed, causing Thalia to glare like nobody's business.

"Not for me, for my friend here! This is Annabeth, and she wants a job." She snapped, poking the last quarter of her doughnut.

"Oh, okay, then. Yeah, I do have some openings. I could always use some more waiters or in your case waitresses." She said, rubbing her hands together.

"Great, do I need an interview or something?" I asked, looking at her hopefully.

"No, you're hired. You start this Saturday, twelve 'o clock." She said, and walked away. I stared after her, my mouth gaping.

"Dude, close your mouth, you're going to catch flies." Thalia said, devouring the last of her doughnut. I snapped my mouth shut, and watched her wave Apollo over to order a new one.

"I'm just surprised. Normally, people interview me first." I said, surprised.

"Yeah, well, Hestia is a very trusting person. Just don't betray her confidence or anything or she'll go off on you." She said, ripping into her new doughnut like it was the last one on earth.

"Of course not." I nodded, nibbling on my own doughnut.

"So, what's going on with you and Percy?" She asked rather bluntly, I might add. I blushed, and looked down at my coffee.

"I don't know what you mean, we've only known each other for two freakin' days!" I exclaimed, looking back up at her.

"You know darn well what I'm talking about! I see the way you two look at each other. Oh, and, of course, you're playing his Juliet in the play, am I correct? I thought so. This can only end up with you two together." She said, leaning back in her chair, and pouring sugar into her hand.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you say." I said, leaning back in my chair as well, and sipping my iced coffee.

"Yup, now, help me with my homework!" She demanded with a smile, pulling out her history book, which was stuffed with paper. I'm going to save you all of the boring history work, and skip to when Thalia dropped me off at my house.

I ran up to my room to avoid my same age, loser, drop-out, good for nothing 'brother'. He's not completely horrible, I just don't like him. I got on my laptop, and searched the internet for scholarships. I had applied for several colleges, but I hadn't gotten any replies yet. I had about four thousand dollars saved in the bank from previous jobs that I had, but if I didn't get a huge scholarship, I wouldn't be able to go to college. I stayed in my room until dinner, and that was a quiet event.

After that I stayed in my room.


	3. Adoption

**A/N: I'm absolutely, 100% sorry that I haven't updated in forever, but to be quite honest, I started this story at the wrong time. You see, I've lost complete inspiration for almost all of my PJO stories. I'm really sorry, but I'm putting Life My Be Hard, But Love Is Harder and Someday My Prince Will Come up for adoption. It really pains me, it really does. If you would like to adopt it, PM or review and tell me your best story and why you want to adopt this one. I'll let you know and you have to let me know when you have your first chapter up. Thanks. :(**


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